[ Comment to Washington Examiner today, students triggered by Steve Martin King Tut http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/students-triggered-by-steve-martins-king-tut-on-snl/article/2640679 ]
Are Reed Millennials Prepared For College?
I’m wondering if current students have been adequately prepared to even participate in Humanities 110?
From their High School Years have the students had some previous experience in reading important literature, having dialogue in class time, writing essays and, applying the ground rules of civil discourse? Did they have the experience of Animal Farm (Orwell), for example? Just from a quick read (on the Internet) of some student papers and lesson plans about Animal Farm I think this is a standard item in most High Schools. I think some of these protesters now at Reed may not have had this experience. Maybe a remedial course on Animal Farm about how totalitarianism gets embedded would be useful?
Sent to my FB and to Joanne Jacobs on Reed College
Are Millennials Prepared For College?
While this post by Joanne Jacobs is rather disturbing it is welcome because it leads to a good starting-point to begin understanding the attacks on free speech on campuses. Frankly, I believe it would take a Master’s Thesis mindset to read all the links and thousands of comments and probably several weeks of composing to deliver something truly illuminating.
However, we could gain some sense of what’s happening by trying to decipher what’s in front of us now.
For me, at this point, I’m wondering if current students have been adequately prepared to even participate in Humanities 110? It’s been around since 1943 and we would surely be well-served to know some history and reports of satisfactions from this mandatory course for all first year students. I do like the goals as framed in the course outline, and note that Reed is considered the most liberal college in America. So what are the students protesting?
To elaborate on my question: From their High School Years have the students had some previous experience in reading important literature, having dialogue in class time, writing essays and, applying the ground rules of civil discourse? Did they have the experience of Animal Farm (Orwell), for example? Just from a quick read (on the Internet) of some student papers and lesson plans about Animal Farm I think this is a standard item in most High Schools. I think some of these protesters now at Reed may not have had this experience. Maybe a remedial course on Animal Farm about how totalitarianism gets embedded would be useful?
http://www.joannejacobs.com/2017/11/its-not-greek-to-me/